I shook my head. “He’s leaving. I’m not marrying Edward, but Kevin isn’t right for me either.”
“Why? How do you know that?”
“Because my chest aches, and I feel like I’m lost and alone. I’ve been queasy and nervous for days. I don’t want to go through having my heart broken again. It hurts too much. I won’t let another man walk out on me, but I won’t let another man use me either.”
“I’m afraid it’s too late. You’ve already fallen in love, and your heart is in pieces. The good thing is that I know a great contractor who’s good at putting things back together.” Avery winked. “Take a chance like I did. Trust me. It’ll pay off.”
My hands shook at the thought of chasing after Kevin. “But he wants to leave. I can’t stand in his way. And he lied to me. He knew how I felt about our father leaving us, and he still led me to believe that he was staying here, and the entire time he was going away.”
“Oh honey, you can stand in his way, and if he doesn’t stop, go with him. But I have it on good authority that he never intended to leave.”
“Really? Who told you that?” I eyed my keys and thought about it, but life was better without a man in it. It would be simpler.
“Kaley.” Avery grabbed my upper arms. “Go after him, or you’ll regret it for the rest of your life. At least hear what he has to say before you write him off for lying to you. Edward’s the liar, not Kevin.”
“But I don’t even know where Kevin is right now.”
“He’s at home packing. According to Kaley, he’s miserable. So miserable he wants to get out of Magnolia Corners for the holiday.” Avery held out my coat to me. “Go get him.”
“Then he should go. I can’t stop him.”
“He isn’t leaving for good. He’ll be back after you return to school. Sounds like he can’t live here right now, like you’re not the only one with a broken heart.”
“Are you saying—”
“That he’s as miserable as you? Yes, if not worse. Love has two sides. Try to see that he’s scared, lonely, and wishes more than anything that you’d tell him how you feel.”
I looked at the ring on my hand, slid it from my finger, and set it down. “What if he leaves?”
“What if he stays?”
Avery’s words of possibilities made my breath catch and my pulse rev. Did I dare take a chance on someone promising to love me? No, but I’d take a chance on Kevin loving me.
I raced to the front door, ran to my car, and drove to his house. His truck was still parked out front. My pulse raced, and my palms were sweaty. I ran to the front door and knocked, but I thought I’d faint by the time he answered.
He opened the door and looked at me but didn’t invite me inside.
“It’s freezing out here. Can I come in?” I stepped forward, not giving him a chance to say no. “I know you’re planning on leaving, but don’t.”
He shut the front door. “Why not?”
“Because your family and friends are here. Trust me, you don’t want to be alone when you can be with the people you love.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “I tried that already. It didn’t work out so well. The woman, despite all my promises and time we spent together so that I thought we were growing closer, decided to marry another man.”
“No, I didn’t.”
He dropped his arms to his side and marched past me toward the kitchen. “I saw you and the ring.”
“I’m mailing it back to him. Edward isn’t the man I thought he was, or I failed at making him into the perfect man. The perfect man doesn’t exist.”
Kevin went to the fireplace and picked up the poker. “Sorry to hear you couldn’t find your perfect man.”
“That’s not what I meant.” My lungs tightened, and my heart pounded in my chest. “Listen, when I saw that acceptance letter in your truck, I panicked. You’d said you wouldn’t leave.”
“I wasn’t going to. I’d only applied to the program to get Joe and Kaley off my back. They’ve been trying to push me out of this town because they think I’m punishing myself, but they have it wrong. I love Magnolia Corners, and I wanted to raise my own family here.”
“I didn’t know,” I said, moving closer to him.
“You could’ve asked. Listen, you had your say, but it doesn’t change anything. I said I’d stay, and you didn’t believe me. You ran off before I could explain.”
I lifted my hand, longing to connect with him again, but he backed away. “I know you did, but—”
He set the poker back and faced me. “I think you should go. I’ve got work to do.”
“Please, Kevin.”
He held up one hand. “It would never work. You should go back to college and figure out what you really want in life.” Without another word, he went to the front door and held it open for me. My legs felt like they were going to collapse before I reached the front steps. The way he looked at me, cold and distant, ripped a hole in my chest, leaving me feeling fatally wounded.
I managed to drive home, crawl into bed, and there I remained for two days. On the third, I knew I couldn’t let my sisters down during the busiest season of the year, so I worked alongside them and Ashton for the rest of the week. It was so busy, we had to set up a stand outside in the cold to expedite package pickup. I think I volunteered just so I could feel something, even if it was frostbite. At the end of the shift, I crawled into bed and swore I’ d never leave my room again.
“Zoey, you need to get up.” Avery came in with a cup of coffee in hand.
I tossed the covers over my head. “Why?”
“Because it’s Christmas Eve.”
“So?”
She sat on the corner of the bed, which dipped and sent me rolling into her. “So, you have the party to throw at the rehab center, remember?”
I peered around the corner of the covers. “That’s today?”
“Yep.”
I threw off the covers and bolted from bed. “Why didn’t you say so? Oh my goodness, there’s so much to do.”
“Don’t worry. Remember, the bakery’s closed for Christmas holidays. The last of the deliveries went out last night. Speaking of, did you get feeling back in your toes?”
“My toes, yes. The rest of me is still numb, but I don’t think it’s frozen from the cold.”
Avery pulled me into a hug and then handed me coffee. “I still love you.”
“I know.”
“Time for some tough love, though. Get dressed.” Avery flung some clothes at me.
“Okay, I’m moving.”
After a quick shower, dress, and primp, we were out the door and headed for the center.
When we pulled into the lot, I noticed someone had removed the garland from the front porch. “Where did the decorations go?”
Avery parked the car. “I’m not sure.”
We headed to the building with boxes of decorations in hand, but at the front door, there was a sign.
Plumbing issue and flood caused relocation of Christmas Eve party. Please go to 455 Chestnut Run.
“That’s Kevin’s place,” I mumbled.
“Guess he gave the center permission while he’s out of town. Are you okay going?”
I straightened and cleared my throat. “I am. There’s no way I would let the patients down after all their hard work. I hope some of the decorations they made were moved over, too.”
We loaded the boxes back into the car, and Avery zipped through town and out the other side to the massive white home. Cars were parked on the grass, driveway, and around back.
I couldn’t help but look for Kevin’s truck, but it wasn’t in the driveway. “Looks like the entire town’s here.”
“You know how Magnolia Corners is. If there is a call for help, everyone comes running.” Avery shoved a box into my arms, and we headed inside.
My stomach tightened at the familiar aroma of sawdust and leather. Added to the normal smell were cinnamon, pine, and roasted nuts. It was an olfactory playgrou
nd of a hometown Christmas.
“Hey, beautiful.” The deep sound of Kevin’s voice took hold and paralyzed me where I stood. I dropped the box with a loud bang at my feet. Everyone inside—Mr. Shelton, therapists, all the clients from the center, Sadie, Joe, and Kaley—looked at me.
“What’s going on?” I asked, trying to sound casual. But even after all the time I’d spent with Kevin, he still had the same effect on me.
He laced his fingers between mine and led me to the Christmas tree that sat by the fire. All the decorations had been deconstructed and put back together here.
“How? Why?”
He took both my hands and faced me. “When I saw that man slip a ring on your finger—”
“I didn’t—”
“Let me say this, please.” He cleared his throat, and I noticed his hands were shaking. I squeezed them tight.
He took a deep breath. “When I saw that happen, I felt like I did the day Joe was injured and the day I almost hit Avery with my truck. Pain shot through my heart, and I thought I would never be able to breathe again. The thought of losing you was too much. That’s when I knew.”
He licked his lips and shifted feet.
“Knew what?” I asked.
“That I couldn’t let you go without a fight.”
Sighs echoed around the room.
“It scared me”—he took in a quick, stuttered breath—“the thought of feeling that kind of pain again, so I wanted to run.”
I opened my mouth, but words didn’t form. A fog of fear and doubt swirled in my head. “I don’t want to stop you. No matter how I feel about you, I don’t want to hold you back from your dreams. If you want to go back to school, then you should go.”
He closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them again. “You’re my dreams. The idea of restoring this place side by side with you, working at the rehab center, coming home with you at night and never letting you go is what I want. You’re my Ms. Bennet, but if I have this wrong and you belong in another world, then go. Marry Edward if he makes you happy. All I want for you is for you to follow your heart. But before I could let you go, I knew I had to tell you the truth.”
I scanned the people around the room. Their eyes were transfixed on us.
Kevin scooted closer, his voice raw with emotion. “I might not write poetry, but I can read to you. I might not be a professor, but I can build a home for us. I might not be a man of many words, but the ones I say count. I don’t want to keep you hidden. I want to share you with the world. We might argue, but I’ll never run away again. Most of all, I want you to know that I’m madly, deeply, insanely in love with you.”
His words traveled through my ears deep into my body, all the way to my heart, leaving me breathless. I inhaled a sharp breath. “I think you have it wrong.”
He went to move away, but I held tight and closed the space between us. “You’re my Mr. Bennet. You’ve changed me. I learned about real love, true words, and what happiness feels like. You’re not my Mr. Darcy. You are unique and pure and, best of all, a real man.”
I heard Avery snicker, but I didn’t care if the entire world knew the truth of how I felt. “Kevin Slayder, I love you. I’ve always loved you.”
I wrapped my arms around his neck, and he lifted me into the air, kissing me.
Deeply.
Madly.
Passionately.
And that’s when I knew… Stories filled my imagination, but true love filled my heart.
Chapter Fourteen
Christmas One Year Later
The wedding march sounded with a jingle bell in the background. I stepped carefully down the stairs while Avery held my train up so I wouldn’t fall. A crowd of clients from the rehab center, therapists, friends, and family lined the entryway into the living area. The silver wallpaper shimmered. The finished floors glowed from candles dripping wax down candelabras.
Avery and Sadie joined me, each taking an arm to lead me to the large room off the kitchen, where Kevin stood next to the Christmas tree by the fireplace.
Wow, he mouthed. His eyes shot wide, and he smiled from ear to ear.
I knew he’d like my dress—simple, elegant, with a slimming waist and a single strand of pearls around my neck. A gift from Sadie and Ashton.
Dylan took Avery from my one arm. I was so excited he was able to take leave over Christmas so the entire family could be here. Ashton took Sadie, cuddling her into his side.
I was the last of the Dixon sisters to leave home for their true love, so I took my final steps to my fiancé alone.
Kevin took my hand. “Hey, beautiful. I can call you that now, right?”
I smiled. “As long as you add wife on the end.”
Aunt Cathy cleared her throat. “I’m glad we could all be here today so that these two could become one in marriage.” She opened her bible with a seriousness I’d never seen. “Since these two decided not to have their wedding in a traditional church—apparently this must be out of style, based on the Dixon sisters’ marital history—it is my pleasure to officiate this ceremony.”
She had to get her dig in somehow. I tried not to laugh in fear she’d stop the wedding. It had taken a year, but we were finally here. Our home refurbished with the fire glowing around us, the tree lights sparkling. The perfect setting to say our vows, so we did, standing in the spot of our first date when we looked over wallpaper samples. Of course, I didn’t know then that I was picking it out for my own home. Although Kevin said he knew it from the moment I’d returned to Magnolia Corners before Christmas last year.
There were sniffles about the room as we said our vows and exchanged our rings. In that moment, I knew life couldn’t get any better than this.
Aunt Cathy put her hand over ours and smiled, tears filling her eyes. “By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”
Kevin pulled me in for our first kiss as man and wife. A kiss that brought heat to my skin and warmth to my soul the way it did the first time we kissed and the way it would five thousand and one kisses from now.
We turned and faced our applauding group, who swooped in for hugs and congratulations. A string quartet strummed away in the living area, and people mulled about, enjoying the Christmas treats Sadie and Avery had made for the occasion.
I stood hand in hand with my husband and looked at the home we’d renovated together. Each detail decided, arranged, and executed by us both.
Ashton held out a hand to Kevin. “Congratulations, man. You’re one of us now.”
Kevin laughed. “These three ladies were legendary. I’m happy I’m not the only man in this bunch.”
Sadie handed Kevin and me each a glass of Champaign and then held up her glass. “To the couple who has it all—a past, a present, and a future filled with love.”
Avery cleared her throat as Dylan handed her Champaign flutes. “And…for you figuring out what you want to do with your life. I can’t believe I didn’t see it. I was sure you’d be a therapist.”
I shook my head. “My joy comes from giving and entertaining. I wouldn’t be happy with the paperwork involved in the medical field, but renovating homes for people with unique mobility needs is a pleasure for us both. Something we can do together.”
Kevin held me tight. “It’s a perfect blend of both of us. We were two halves, but now we’re whole.”
I stood on my toes and planted a kiss on his cheek. “Thank you for making me happier than any character in any story. You are my happily ever after.”
The End
Also by Ciara Knight
For a complete list of my books, please visit my website at www.ciaraknight.com. A great way to keep up to date on all releases, sales and prizes subscribe to my Newsletter. I’m extremely sociable, so feel free to chat with me on Facebook, Twitter, or Goodreads.
For your convenience please see my complete title list below, in reading order:
HISTORICAL WESTERNS:
McKinnie Mail Order Brides
Series
Love on the Prairie
(USA Today Bestselling Novel)
Love in the Rockies
Love on the Plains
Love on the Ranch
His Holiday Promise
(A Love on the Ranch Novella)
Love on the Sound
(coming 2019)
Love at the Coast
A Prospectors Novel
Fools Rush
Bride of America
Adelaide: Bride of Maryland
CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
Winter in Sweetwater County
Spring in Sweetwater County
Summer in Sweetwater County
Fall in Sweetwater County
Christmas in Sweetwater County
Valentines in Sweet-water County
Fourth of July in Sweetwater County
Thanksgiving in Sweetwater County
Grace in Sweetwater County
Faith in Sweetwater County
Hope in Sweetwater County (Coming Soon)
Love in Sweetwater County (Coming Spring 2019)
Riverbend
In All My Wishes
In All My Years
In All My Dreams
In All My Life
A Christmas Spark
A Miracle Mountain Christmas
YOUNG ADULT:
Battle for Souls Series
Rise From Darkness
Fall From Grace
Ascension of Evil
The Neumarian Chronicles
Weighted
Escapement
Pendulum
Balance
The Sweet Bride Page 7